The Science of Sex Appeal
by Nyrababe
Summary: The Science of Sex Appeal, a thing yet to be investigated and Sakura has the opportunity to learn and try with the King of the Science himself and his secound contender.
1. Where we begin

Sakura sat at her dinner table cross legged and in one hand her chopsticks holding grilled salmon and the other holding the papers for a research project assigned to her. Papers were sprawled out on the table actually and there was more in the living room. Her hair pinned up in the back and wearing her usual ninja wear she read intently the paper in front of her.

Taking another bit of Salmon she set the paper down and recalled how this project had come into her hands. A blush on her cheeks as she found the next paper she was looking for. Not only was this project out of the normal span of her typical research but it was also very..strange and a bit unnerving in the way a child feels when they hear something for adult ears only.

The start of the day was average, nothing new or strange for a day in which she had a meeting. It was the monthly meeting of the councillors, an event held to discuss upcoming projects in all fields. Things like the next month's business projects, financial costs, foreign relations updates, and the medical fields review, more specifically, the state of the patients coming in and the latest research in which they would begin. She looked forward to these meetings as much as she did her period.

She had expected to be put on some kind of standard research but she was thrown for a loop when the matter of discussion fell on the Uchiha clan. Apparently there was discussion that one of their asset clans was having a feud in the stupidest way Sakura knew. Apparently a couple in the allied clan had child which was deformed. Because of this they were feuding, the parents blaming each other in the matter, even bringing it to their court but no proof could be brought on that it was either sides fault. When a councillor questioned the point of this news Fugaku explained.

The cln had requested the Uchiha clan to help with an investigation into this. The feud was more a spark to ignite some questions. In the event of such issues was it legal to sue the partner? Sakura had scoffed quietly over the idea, placing this in her mental bin of 'most shallow things she has ever heard'. Later on she was enlightend on the seriousness of the problem for large clans by Neji.

This also elected more questions after that. What could be the cause of deformations, a question addressed to Sakura which was here as the representative of the Hospital. Tsunade could have answered the question herself, but was to represent the shinobi community, not the hospital. A brief explanation of malnutrition and hereditary causes was given. Comparing the issue to how the sharingan worked by being passed through blood, even stating that inbreeding is a cause too, a prevalent thing in powerful clans.

This discussion picked up and was broken down into more and more questions going into behavior and human nature along with genetic explanations. Within this banter a hole was discovered in the medical community which was covered in everything from farms to animal taming. How did human breeding work? What could bring on benefits? What could cause problems? It was an interesting idea, although strangely awkward to discuss, feeling as something that should be more private then in a council meeting. Although her logical side rationalized that these were valid questions, meant to be explored.

By the end of the meeting it was determined. Sakura would lead a research investigation into the very odd subject of human breeding habits. In order to qwell potential future legal issues, such as the ally clan was having, to be able to assist in the ability to gin intel in seduction missions, to instruct high ranked clans to benefit and avoid deformed infants, and for the entertainment industry of Konoha to 'present' better entertinmet. She had scoffed at this comment to, but it was an interesting thing to look into she admitted.

If they could breed dogs to bring out traits and prevent illness, why could they do so with humans? She reprimanded herself for that thought, people were animals…okay technically they were but not that kind of animal.

But regardless of such reasons she couldn't help the slight thrill of the prospect of this investigation. As awkward as it would be it would open new areas of psychology on people, explain behaviours, maybe even prevent genetic mistakes. That last idea gave her a sense of pride, she had seen that life for the family of such a child could be hard, and though they loved their child no less she pitied some of the kids, who could not walk or looked odd and were picked on for it, it just wasn't fair.

She chastised herself for such an idea and took another bite of Salmon "Since when is life fair…" she sighed, turning to look out the window of her home. She had a single bedroom home with a kitchen, bathroom, and Living room. Eating in the kitchen at a table next to a window, rain pattering on the window. It was a dull end to a day in terms of weather however Sakura's mind was darting around making plans. This was her first solo research without Tsunade helping her, and it was a big one. If she could pull this off it would be an incredible start to her career and get her foot in the door for a better spot in the governing office. Nothing against her current home, but she wanted something bigger, maybe with a back yard and a second room for guests or kids.

She knew for this to work however she needed test subjects. It was a subject that could be very personal to a person, so she made note to write up a form to state what they were to expect and to give future consent, in case of legal action. The subject alone however would be enough to push people away so getting some starting teams would be a good idea she told herself.

A place to start in volunteers was easy, she'd ask some of her friend to give her a helping hand and ran through who might be available. Her immediate thought went to her old team Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai. She doubted Kakashi would be a good choice to include, he was getting up in his years and the point of this was to involve participants which had a strong active sex drive, probably best to range between 18-25 years of age, just to keep things legal and unawkward for the participants. Naruto might do it, hell he'd probably jump in not knowing the what he was signing up for. Only that he knew he was helping her. Sakura chuckled at the dobe, he was a good friend but certainly dense.

Sasuke was a potential volunteer if she could convince him. He was a hot blooded male that's for sure, she was none to impressed with how he pranced around making 'conquests' but resided to keeping his activities out of her mind. Once upon a time she had a crush on that boy, now she was thankful that ship had sailed.

Sai was just plain out of luck on this one, that man's only sex drive was for work.

Ino was a definite yes, Hinata perhaps, she'd want to discuss it with her fiancée Naruto first, she knew that. There was the prospect of Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Rock Lee, and Tenten for sure. She highly doubted Neji would participate unless Tenten was in. There were more potential people to ask but those were her top selections, maybe even invite Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara to join.

'Scratch that, Gaara's probably too busy.' She thought to herself running through more names.

She thought about relatives of her friends and naturally her first thought was none other than Uchiha Itatchi. It could certainly be said that the man had Sex appeal for sure. With a lean yet muscular body, toned from acrobatics in dodging kunai and shurikan. Her mind drifted off into what acrobatics he could pull in bed with those strong toned arms…

She shook her head in an attempt to clear it, coincidentally a rapping was heard at her door.

"Coming," she said getting up and putting the paper work down and walking over to the door. Once opened she was greeted by her friend Ino, her hair in its usual style but wearing a dark blue raincoat with vertical stripes and a matching umbrella in hand.

"Hey Sakura, sorry for the drop in but I heard you got a special assignment for the hospital by the council and I wanted to congratulate you forehead." She said with a bright smile and stepped inside once Sakura moved to let her in.

"It's fine Ino pig. I was just looking over the financial paperwork. But yeah I'm leading a research investigation in a new area." She said closing the door and putting Ino's umbrella away for her.

"Awsome! I'd say I'm jealous but it sounds like a lot of work!" she laughed as the girls headed to the kitchen, Sakura going to make some tea as Ino sat down at the table.

"You're not wrong about that, but this is a good way to get my name out there as a medic ninja AND a researcher." She said heating the water and getting the tea set.

"Please, you're already so well known seeing as Lady Tsunade trained you." Ino said looking at some of the papers.

"Yes but that not what I want to be known for. Sure it's one thing to have a name by your teacher but it's another thing to be known by what you've done with their teachings. " She said bringing the tea over "I want to make Lady Tsunade and Kakashi sensei proud, along with my parents and team mates. You ought to know that feeling."

"Yeah, except in my case I have to live up to the family name." She chuckled and said her thanks as she took the tea cup.

"Well who knows maybe you'll one up them and set a new standard. Your only 19, plenty of time to catch up right?"

"Yeah that's true, so what's this about forehead?" she pointed to the papers.

Sakura sighed and lifted the main page "It's a project about human mate selection." Ino's eyebrow raised "Hear me out before you jump at the chance pig."

"Fine but you have my undivided attention."

"Through absolutely ridiculous means and reasoning the council has determined that we need to investigate, for legal issues, how the human mating and genetics works. It might take awhile but if I can make good headway I could be on my way to knowing the system in an out, I already understand the chakra system and the circulatory, but nobody knows much on reproduction aside from the basics."

Ino smirked "Sounds kinky."


	2. The Interveiws

Wow one night and 150 people read this! O.o

Sakura was arranging her pages on her clip board. In the next room over were the potential people to assist in her research. No had already agreed to help her and even suggested taking an interview with her volunteers. This worked out nicely since she had to get them to sign a paper to ensure they knew what they were getting into and she had their consent. It wold be a nice break from her usual routine of going to the hospital after breakfast for surgeries and if it was slow check-ups.

She had stated on a form posted around the village that she was looking for volunteers and to meet her in this section of the Hokage tower. An area separated meant for meeting with people in private, particularly clients however she had permission to use this area for however long it took to get through her interviews.

"Okay contracts, log books…I think that's everything. " she ran her hand through her pink hair pushing the stray hairs out of her face, the jade diamond on her forehead barely noticeable as she had only recently started storing chakra there. Deciding that a once over of her appearance was needed she went to the bathroom in the back to check. In an atmosphere such as this looking professional would be critical to win over her volunteers to help her and assure them this was all professional.

She entered the bathroom and looked herself over. Her Pink hair was down in the front but in the back it was pinned up again, she reminded herself she had to go get her hair cut again as she had grown long tired of having long hair. She wore simple white dress shirt and knee length pencil skirt. However she kept her boots the same, some things couldn't be parted with. She adjusted her headband to hold her hair back a bit better and fixed her doctors robe. Her eyes travelling to the diamond in her forehead and gave a proud smile.

Pleased with her appearance she exited the bathroom and went to the door. Ino was waiting with the potential applicants, her job was simple, send people in one at a time and check to make sure they were within the age range she wanted. Of course Sakura had said she couldn't turn anyone away that was within the age range that was Sakura's job. She cracked the door open and next to the door was said girl. "Okay Pig start sending them in."

Ino nodded and Sakura closed the door as she could hear Ino getting everyone's attention and explaining how things would work with interviews. Sakura took her seat a the table and waited patiently till the door opened. Clip board in hand to hold the papers they had to fill out containing generic information and things she herself would need to fill out.

Within a few minutes the door opened and In stepped a cheerful Tenten.

"Hi Sakura!" she said walking up to the desk.

"Hi Tenten! Glad you saw the paper. It's easier doing this when you can get friendly sympathy." She said releasing a breath she hadn't been aware of holding.

"I can see why, the topic of research isn't exactly the most open for discussion topic on a day to day basis." She nodded handing the form to Sakura who put it in her clip board.

"Okay, getting to business though you already know the topic as I'm sure Ino-pig has had all too much fun telling. But seeing as I've already talked with her and she's brought to my attention that I need to stress something. This is NOT a dating game. I don't care what she told you."

Tenten laughed "Yes that sounds like Ino alright. I understand and I wasn't walking into this thinking otherwise."

Sakura smiled and laughed with her "Yeah well I had to make sure. I've been planning this portion for a week and in that time who knows what gossip she's spread about this."

She nodded "Okay so what else do you need to tell me?"

"Well first off I need you to sign a contract saying you agree to the terms of this study." She handed her the forum "I don't think you'd make a fuss but its precaution. This entire study was created based off a legal issue, wouldn't look good if we created more with the study."

"Really? Well alright I trust your judgment." She said signing the contract.

"Awsome, now there are 2 types of log books, red are girls, blue is boys." She handed a red log book to Tenten and took the contract.

"Why the difference?" she asked looking through it.

"Well this study has a lot to do with gender so theirs different things that each gender needs to record. Case in point, girls ovulate. Theirs a section to record your cycle times seeing as that might be an important factor. Not to mention there is umm..other sections such as your 'activity' as it could be nicely put." She explained feeling slightly awkward even though Tenten was a friend and a female to boot.

"Oh umm okay well it's not like anyone but you will see it." She nodded "Kami forbid Ino saw this."

"Yeah, Ino may be a good friend but she's way to much of a gossip." Sakura said with a smile, remembering many a days in the hot springs when they were young talking about everything from fashion to boys.

Tenten nodded and Sakura explained a bit more to the Booklet and then let the girl take her leave before readying for her next interveiw. It wouldn't be the first shock of the night when she looked up to see a lean body and ebony black hair. Emotionless black eyes looking at her as the eldest Uchiha approached her. This was far from expected.

"Itachi? I didn't expect to see you here!" she said with open surprise, an odd feeling of nervousness befalling her. She stood up and reached out to shake his hand, becoming more formal now. It was hard to just 'relax' with Itachi, especially when it came to socializing with the man. His cool calculating aura seemed to demand the formalness of anyone's behaviour.

"Ms. Haruno," he responded and shook her hand, his grip firm but not crushing, and certainly not as light as to say 'I'm afraid I might break you' as some ignorant men would do with a woman, shinobi or not. After he shook her hand he handed her the form and she took it with a nervous nod. She was vaguely familiar that she might be blushing a bit, not from arousal but nervousness at being in the room with him. She wasn't even fully understanding why this was the trigger though she did admit he was attractive. _'Well this could be something to look into on this project' _she said becoming aware of it.

"Please just call me Sakura and while I am surprised that you are available, what with being an ANBU Captain and such, that you have the time to help me with this project I must say I'm welcome to the additional help." She said taking a seat and he followed suit, his chair barely scrapping the ground as he pulled it out. He didn't respond to this but nodded in acknowledgement of what she said. Sakura took a deep breath to calm herself and focus on the task at hand "Alright now if you're sure you do indeed have the time to help, because it wouldn't do to have you leave part way through on mission, I have a contract for you to sign and then I'll give you your log book." She slid the contract to him over the table.

He took the paper and began to read in silence. Sakura just sitting there and looking around aimlessly not wanting to stare and be rude, the awkwardness sitting in the air like a thick fog that she was sure only she could feel. Things like this never seemed to bother the Uchiha heir, and she'd know. This wasn't the first time they had been alone together in a room and this fog had hung heavy. Many a time when she would visit Sasuke, make a house call to the compound or delivering medicine she would see Mikoto and said woman would invite her in for tea. Not wanting to be rude to the friendly gesture and the lovely, in appearance and personality, woman she would accept, and in more than once occasion she would find herself alone with Itachi and sometimes Fugaku and Sasuke. She could honestly say she liked when Sasuke was present, at least then she had somebody to attempt to talk to that was familiar.

She once even attempted a conversation with Itachi but felt she was doing all the talking and quickly stopped, worried she might annoy the man too much. Fugaku was even easier to converse with then Itachi. While Sasuke wold give short replies to her at least he gave them and she knew her team mate well enough to catch his moods turning or growing, long had she given up her crush on the stubborn man but it didn't qwell their friendship. With Fugaku the choice of subject was easy too, he was a very formal man but kept his mind in politics and business, and it helped to know that the man seemed to have some respect for her, most likely coming with being the Hokage's apprentice and a renowned medic.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the door opened very suddenly and both shinobi turned to see Naruto at the door "Sakura! Whats the hold up?"

She sighed, while she knew Naruto was impatient and was never properly taught manners he had hoped he would know better by now "Naruto go sit and wait until Ino sends you in!"

"Can't I just give you the stupid form and be gone? Hinata and I were going to go have Ramen." He whined.

"Naruto. Go sit and wait! I'll be with you shortly, this is really inappropriate!" she said getting up and walking to the door to close it on the blond.

"But Sakura…" he pressed, from behind him she heard a "Get in here dobe." _'So Sasuke did show up.' _She thought to herself as she gave Naruto a grim shove back and closed the door. Turning she saw Itachi looking at her and she felt the blush come back, not sure if from embarrassment, nervousness from his stare, or both.

"Sorry about that, he doesn't learn does he?" she laughed nervously and moved back over to her seat.

"It's alright, I've grown used to it." He said before signing the paper.

"Really? Oh right you probably hear it a lot since he visits Sasuke a lot," she gave a nervous chuckle again taking the paper and giving him a blue log book "The instructions on what to fill out and when on inside, you can always ask me if you're not sure about something." She explained sitting down.

He nodded in response but instead of looking in the book he looked at her "If I may, I'd like to ask you a question." He said and she was taken aback, he hadn't even opened the book yet he had a question already.

"Umm sure." She said feeling the awkwardness jump and her heart beat faster, the blush she assumed grew from it.

"Why did you turn down your invitation to become ANBU?" he asked straight forward, still no sign of emotion.

Again she was taken aback, how he knew about this seeing as it had been a private invitation and as far as she knew ANBU didn't discuss potential applicants. "Oh well...how to explain…well I'll admit I didn't really want the position for multiple reasons. I suppose the most prominent is it would mean separating from team 7. Don't get me wrong, I know very well that now I can be sent on solo missions but were I to join ANBU it would mean a bigger jump. Not to mention I couldn't keep up with my work at the hospital and helping Tsunade. Kami knows somebody has to keep that woman sober." She laughed again some of her nervousness melting off with it.

Itachi nodded and she swore she saw the barest smirk on his face but wouldn't bet on it.

"I see, thank you. If that is all I'll take my leave." He said getting up with the log.

"Yes and thank you again Itachi, the more the better." She nodded going to shake his hand again.

He accepted her out stretched hand "Your welcome Sakura." He said sending a shiver down her spine as her name rolled off his tongue, she hoped he hadn't noticed. Turning around he left her alone in the room again and Sakura let out a content sigh _'That went better than expected. Odd that he knew about my invite- wait he's a Captain. Baka they probably let all Captains know about invitations. Still Sasuke hasn't given me any dirty looks recently so he hasn't told him at least, if anyone else.'_

She smiled contently and felt refreshed after the awkwardness had subsided. Naturally however Naruto had come in right after and skipping all formalities Sakura took his form, got him to sign the contract, and kicked him out with his log within 3 minutes. Her brief refresh aura now annoyed. Once he was kicked out she flopped back into her chair and rested her head in her hand, her elbow propped on the table. The door opened and shut and she looked up fixing herself only to receive yet another surprise.

"Gaara! What are you doing here much less in Konoha?!" she said getting up in her seat in surprise. Here was the Kazekage in all his red haired, sea foam eyed glory. Not in his Kazekage robes but in his normal Shinobi gear.

"I came to discuss foreign affairs in regards to Suna's medical system under the elder's requests. However I learned you were busy in a research project and came to see what it was about." He said approaching her.

"I hadn't heard that you had arrived! It good to see you again." She said with a toothy smile, feeling right at home with the Kazekage. Gaara had been her friend and many others since his turn around at the Chunin exams. She hadn't forgotten when she had defended Sasuke from Gaara's assault and ended up pinned to a tree being slowly crushed. No she hadn't in the slightest. However she DID believe in a change of heart and Gaara had proven that his was real. Now whenever she heard he was in the village she and Naruto had made sure to spend quality time with their friend.

"I only arrive shortly ago, it's good to see you're in good health." He said with a nod.

"Same with you although it'll only be official good health until I say otherwise." She joked "So judging from what you said you don't know what this study is about ,huh?"

He shook his head no.

She nodded and sighed wondering where to start "Well…to explain the reasoning behind it there was a legal issue between a couple. Apparently they had a child but it came to be deformed and they both want to blame each other for the deformation." Gaara scowled "Yeah I know, its shallow and cruel, I don't exactly know what befell the child but I believe it's in its fathers Aunts care and is safe and sound with the widow. But back to the legal debate. They can't prove that either one of them was responsible, so this study is to look at human reproduction and better understand the drive to…well the human drive to mate and how genetics work better." She said the last bit rushed from embarrassment and felt her blush back.

Gaara just nodded "Interesting, and you took this on yourself?"

"Don't make me out to be a pervert but yes. Mostly because Tsunade can't lead it with her duties, Shizune doesn't want it, and I'm the next contender. Besides this field is uncharted and as weird as it is it would give me more of a name for myself." She explained.

"I didn't see you as somebody who would do this for perverse reasons." He stated "And you're rounding up people for test subjects?"

"That sounds harsh when you put it like that but yes in a sense. People come and volunteer, I let them know what they're in for, and see if they'll do it. Your welcome to join in but I doubt you'll have the time. You're a Kazekage, I can't have my 'subjects' leaving mid study." She explained.

"It's fine, I won't be leaving for a while, I'll help." He said casually but with firmness to it.

'_Today is just full of surprises!'_ She mentally exclaimed "If you're sure then by all means!" she said grabbing the contract and going through the motions of preparing him. He didn't even bat an eye at the contract and signed instantly.

"Thanks Gaara, much appreciated." She beamed and he gave a soft smile in return and nodded "By the end of this perhaps we can better foreign affairs through this study." He said and left.

'…_why do I feel like that had a double meaning to it…' _She said as the blush blossomed over her face again at the many things it could mean, some of which her sexually frustrated mind picked up on instantly.

And so it begins~ I wont tell who gets the girl in the end guys you'll just have to hope and see

_-Nyrababe_


	3. The smell of a man

In retrospect picking her starting point for this study wasn't the easiest. Sakura sighed sipping her tea as she watched the females of the room move around. She couldn't help but pity them because this test had to be one of the grosser. Still science was science and she was sure that they would all appreciate the tea after this. She watched as each girl, pen and paper in hand, would walk up to a jar which contained a shirt, sniffed it, then filled out the paper. At first she didn't blame the girls for being rather grossed out at the idea of smelling sweaty shirts in jars. But it was a necessary sacrifice.

She watched in irony as Ino cringed at one of the jars, in hindsight the girl shouldn't suggest testing a sense that wold require some gross interaction.

The idea was that the nose, a powerful but subliminal sense, could help a person find a good mate and even identify poor choices and even family members. The idea came when she thought of how dogs interacted by scent and with the use of pheromones. This prompted her to get everyone, male and female, to wear a white shirt and work out till soaked in their own sweat. She collected the shirts and put them in jars, recording who were the owner of the numbered jar using the codes G and B for girls and boys scents. In another room the guys were being subjected to the same thing and she bit back a laugh at the image of some of the more reserved guys, and uppity in some cases, sniffing sweaty shirts. She had everyone fill out a paper giving their opinions on the shirts. Girls of course prior to had to record their state of ovulation.

It felt weird observing this from the girl's standpoint and left another supervisor to watch them and walked out of the room and across the hall to where the guys were and checked on them, tea still in hand, and saw them doing something similar, Sasuke saw her come in and so did others though none of their reactions were as amusing as the glare Sasuke gave her and she shrugged away a smile of amusement. She hoped she wasn't putting them through this for nothing. She watched as Kiba smelt the shirt she had and then left. The guy would know it was her's, hell he'd probably know most of the smells owners, and she wasn't sticking around to see him give her an amused smirk.

Sometime during her interviews she must have had a brain fart because she had miscounted the male to female ratio. 11 guys, 10 girls which was a problem because she needed even numbers, so to make due she had to throw in her own sweaty shirt to keep it even, for the girls an extra shirt to smell was nothing but she didn't want the guys standing around to mock each other. They probably felt awkward enough as is and hoped none of them hated her for putting them through this.

She could only imagine the heated glares she was going to get from this, fearing most Itachi's and Gaara's. They could truly be terrifying people without even trying. She went to the main room and made sure the tea was still good, hoping the pleasant smell of tea and rice balls would appease them as an apology.

It was within the next 15 minutes everyone started coming from the rooms and Ino was the one to hurry ahead "Forehead!" she boomed and Sakura smiled apologetically and handed her friend her favorite blend of plume and blackberry tea. Ino looked at the tea then at Sakura and huffed taking it and smiling at the first smell "Your forgiven."

Sakura let out a held breath of relief hearing this but avoided all other eyes for the time being. However Sauske approached her directly "What was that?"

"Sorry Sasuke I warned you in the interview, and the contract, and in the form, and in the log book, AND in the posters that this study might put you in an awkward spot." She explained "I didn't lie."

"That was beyond awkward." He huffed "It was degrading even."

"I'm sorry the potential process of human mating disgusts you?" she rolled her eyes, she wasn't sorry but now was not the time for a fight.

He huffed and grabbed some tea. Everyone seemed to be sitting either with their immediate friends or off on their own. Case in point being Itachi sipping his green tea by himself on one of the chairs Gaara with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai.

**ITACHI'S POV**

'_Well that was interesting' _he thought sipping the green tea quietly as everyone around him chattered. Contrary to popular belief the Uchiha prodigy did enjoy people's presence and conversation. A passer byer would think he was lonely sitting on his own yet he felt quiet socialized listening to everyone around him. To him it was more a matter of presence, he was a man of few words but enjoyed another human being's company as much as anyone else.

In his peripheral vision he watched the head researcher herself serving tea to some other subjects and apologizing for any discomfort. He didn't see why she bothered, they were warned as was he about personal and social boundaries for this study, that was the whole point. Break down a human's animal instinct to breed, plain and simple. What was the drive and what was the hindrance.

In the room he inwardly admitted it was strange. Clever but strange all the same. When they had first arrived she had handed out the t-shirts and then declared what they were going to do. In the case of shinobi she had sent them to train until they sweat like pigs seeing as the civilian volunteers needed less work to sweat them self's soaked. He had noticed that she had worn one of the shirts and even knew exactly which one was hers.

Itachi was no pervert, but he knew Sakura's smell well. It hadn't gone over his head that his mother always sat her next to him, he was a genius for a reason. But being there had allowed him to observe some of her habit's. He remembered when the diamond on her brow had begun to form and knew she carried it with pride, how when she got nervous a blush would dust her cheeks, and just what set off her temper. But he also knew her smell, a warm smell that reminded him of summer winds. When she sweat she had a stronger smell but became more like a hot day smell of dust and work.

He knew exactly which shirt was hers.

He wouldn't lie when he saw her sit with her friends he partly wished she'd come sit with him. She was interesting to listen to with her intelligence. He remembered when she had spoken with him at the compound and had watched her quiet down more and more than becoming silent and getting her nervous blush back. It was charming in its own way and amusing in many others.

**Gaara's POV**

He smiled softly as Sakura took a seat with them, profusely apologizing for putting them in a spot, not that he minded. Living with a demon inside you had a tendency to remove ones concern over such small things. If anything it was interesting to him how the test had gone. It ideally made a person rely on a sense and in turn their instinct, something he knew well with Shukaku who only made his own wilder. Like being more an animal then a human, at one time he thought that was just another sign of being a monster, now he was coming to terms with it.

In spite of the event which seemed to shake the others a bit everyone was chipper as ever, he wasn't much for tea but drank his anyways, wishing the smell didn't wash out his senses like the others did. He had enjoyed it when he found which shirt belonged to hers, it reminded him of an oasis in the desert.

Said girl was drinking her tea and explaining her reasoning for the test. He didn't care much but listened anyways, letting his mind drift around within his memories of the girl. He'd admit when he first met her he wasn't impressive aside from her hair color. He had been more amused by Sasuke then her and she had faded into the background. When she had fought her friend Ino he had at first been surprised that she hadn't backed out, which back then usually meant he had bothered to notice a small detail. Then during the fight he had expected her to fall prey to her friends mind justsu, but instead broke it though some inner force. At first he speculated if she too had a demon, but given her condition he dismissed that as impossible. Temari had been the one to suggest that she had some sort of kekki genkai but that was dismissed again after a while.

Temari was the one to get the most amusement when both girls knocked each other out, making it a tie.

He still hadn't cared much, but the selling point in her character was when she had the guts to stand between him and Sasuke. It was a stupid move in every aspect of it yet it left a deep running message to him. It was he love he had lacked, back then it was a one sided love but even then it struck s cord on him that people would lay their lives down to protect somebody they loved. Nobody had don't that for him, and after his fight with Naruto and had made his resolve he admitted he wanted to feel that kind of love.

It was a driving force when he became Kazekage and even now, he'd lay his life down to protect his village. And his siblings would protect him with their lives, yet it wasn't enough. He had wondered if he was getting greedy now but knew platonic love wasn't what he wanted now. Hoping it wasn't too much to ask for something a little more romantic in nature. It was a normal thing for regular people to want, why couldn't he wish the same?

**BACK TO SAKURA**

Once she was done talking to the group she supposed now it was her turn to go do the deed. She cringed at the idea of sniffing the shirts but also acknowledged that she was part of the study too, she just hadn't done it with the others since she was too busy supervising,

She said goodbye to everyone and headed down the hallway to the examination room where the jars sat. Closing the door behind her she sighed and took her own paper coming to the first jar and cringed, she hadn't even taken a wiff but could feel how weird and gross this was and once again pitied the others.

Still she made her way through the jars, her responses expectable to many but found her reaction to 2 of the smells rather…alarming. Worse off it belonged to two men she found that made this even more awkward. Itachi and Gaara.

'_Thank god only I know the owners of this, Ino would never let me live this down.'_ She cursed and then sighed trying to rationalize that it wasn't a big deal and nobody would know. Not if she had anything to say about it.

Just so you guys know these test are based off an actual documentary


	4. Perspective

Sakura sat at her desk the next day running through the papers from the previous day's experiment. The current test was currently in the process of preparation, random people which were not part of the immediate experiment were donating their voices downstairs in a recording room. Meanwhile Sakura was compiling data from yesterday and awing over what she had already discovered within one experiment.

Ino burst in announced holding a platter of tea "Hey forehead whatcha doing?"

Sakura looked up from her files "Ino don't go around barging into my office, I don't need another Naruto running around." She joked taking the offered glass of green tea.

"As if that's possible, but I'll repeat my question. What are you doing?" she asked again taking a seat next to Sakura and placing the tray on her desk, she had thoughtfully bought her some breakfast to go with her tea.

"Thanks and I'm compiling the information from yesterday. I've already found a link between the sense of smell and mate selection!" she said excitedly.

"Hold up already? What did you find?"

"Well okay as it stands a few stuck out really badly and I think it's safe to give names here. When you all ran through the process of sniffing shirts it's obvious some of the guys and girls are related, case in point Hinata and Neji. Well when both of them came up to the shirt of the other person they listed it as 'extremely unsexy' and it happened with others to that were related."

"So?"

"So this indicates that smell alone can give the red flag for incest!" she pushed further "A long time ago we know people ran around and just because somebody didn't have the title of brother or sister that didn't mean they weren't related to you. Social taboos were light if there at all. And biologically offspring from an incestuous pairing can have horrendous defects. So Nature had to give us some way to identify relatives and from this experiment it seems to be in the sense of smell!"

"Oh I see!" she said looking at the numbers Sakura had racked up.

"This is a great start in the project and I want to look into smell a bit more, in truth we don't know much about it either so it's a great start. I already have something to tell the council should they want to see something in terms of progress." She said poring over the papers. "I'm also going to look into a few more things regarding the choices made but those ones are confidential." She said firmly.

Ino smirked "Awww come on forehead then how about you tell me if you found any of them a 'sexy' smell."

"Ino-pig this is confidential information. In regards to me as well. You can go boast on your choice's but I won't squawk."

"Your no fun." She huffed "So what's today's experiment?"

"You'll see later." She shrugged "As in tomorrow, we need to record the voices for it."

"Voice recordings?" she said looking bewildered "What we examining pillow talk now?" This got a glare from the pinkette.

"Leave it to you Pig to let your mind go there. Why would I think of intruding on people's privacy like that?!"

"Sakura my dear your studying human mating, I would think for a doctor it would be a big deal. Its only healthy to try out the contro- OW!" she cried out as Sakura wacked her on the side of the head, the girl blushing slightly.

"Ino you pig! That is really unnecessary!"

"Are you blushing? Oh come ON Sakura don't tell me you've never read erotica before. I mean Kakashi openly reads porn constantly I figure- ow!" she said rubbing were she got hit again but Ino being Ino smiled and got out of immediate range of a fist "Come on Sa-ku-ra! I'm sure more than once you've let you head fall into the gutter!"

Sakura got up to jump at her "Ino.." she growled in warning, the blush only spreading.

"Who was the person in your head? Was it Naruto? Sai? Sasuke?"

"Ino you have 5 seconds.."

"Kakashi? Yamato? Kiba? Shikamaru?"

"4."

"Choji? Kankuro?"

"3."

"umm…Neji?"

"2,"

"Rock lee?"

"Oh hell no!" she yelled shuddering, remembering the kids creepy attitude back at the chunin exams. Ino laughed

"Okay who else…Oh! Gaara or Itachi?" Sakura sent her a death glare. "OOOOOOH one of the two then?"

"…doesn't have to be just one…" she admitted "Ino really if you're going pester me to death with this can we go somewhere else with it? Maybe someplace where our voices don't echo?"

"Sure thing! Leave your paper's here and lets go to the tea house, I hear they have new Dango for diets!"

"You never change." Sakura sighed and followed her friend out and to the new tea house. The atmosphere of this place always calmed her nerves, she paid most of the credit to the decor meant to 'balance chi' as the owner had once told her. It worked that was for sure. Both girls took their usual wall booth spots and laid in their orders.

"Okay Sakura spill! It's been way to long since we got to have a heart to heart chat like this!" she said clearly getting pumped for this.

"It hasn't been that long Ino, we did this-"

"6 months ago, too long a time forehead." She huffed.

"Right….well okay so what exactly do you want to hear?" Sakura said looking around in case anyone was ease dropping.

"Okay well CLEARLY you have something for one of two stoic men, both of which are making legends of themselves." Sakura huffed at her friend "BUT you not the only girl out there so don't get your knickers in a knot over it. A crush is a crush so tell me which one it is."

"Well…That's the thing. Remember back in the Academy when even though I know we both had it for Sasuke it was normal to get little side crushes?"

"Yeah?"

"Well this is one of those times. Except..well it's kind of both of them really." She tried to explain, one thing she hadn't anticipated as a child growing up is that explaining relationships were harder when it wasn't all black and white and you didn't want to sound like a crazy fan girl.

"Go on." Ino pushed her.

"Hmm…okay to put it in lay man's terms their both hot. That much can be said for, both of them also have this heavy hanging aura. As of currently its more Itachi then Gaara since Gaara has opened up a bit more and he is my friend. But it feels…awkward to be alone with either one in a room or to sit next to one another. I'm more used to sitting and talking with Gaara but doing so alone or when we're not out with everyone is nerve wrecking. And with Itachi it's even worse." She said realizing as she had been talking she had been moving her arms as she talked, something she only did when agitated.

Ino nodded and sipped the tea which had just arrived "Keep talking, I'm listening."

"Like I said he's got this almost aura of formality. Its stifling, yet I know for a fact he's a very nice and even gentle person." She said taking a sip of her tea hoping to calm herself.

"And you know this how?"

"I'm observant. He may be the all too lethal Captain of an ANBU squad but he's got grace to his movements, did you notice he can walk on hollow wood with minimal sound? That minimal is nearly silent. And the few times I have gotten more than a sentence out of him he's been very collected. Ironicly he can be so dainty when grabbing at things." She chuckled "His mother always sits me next to him and across from Sasuke when I go over, provided he's even home."

Ino jolted at this and gave Sakura a hard stare, her stare was almost like it was screaming her thoughts although Sakura couldn't place them before she got a sly smirk.

Nothing good came from that sneaky knowing smile.

"Soooo his mother is trying to hook you up, eh?" she hinted.

"Excuse me?" she looked at the blond dumbfounded "Ino were talking about Mikoto. Mikoto doesn't hook her prodigy son up with a shinobi girl from the most common part of town. Mikoto doesn't hook people up period. Sure she hosts parties but she doesn't hook people up! Isn't that something more teenage heart robbers like you do?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Let it not be said that I'm not something of a match maker. After all Temari and Shikamaru are planning their wedding!" she smiled proudly "And I even got that stuck up Neji to let loose and ask Tenten out already. The sexual tension was driving me crazy." This elected a laugh out of Sakura. "But seriously forehead, I think his mom is trying to hook you up."

"Again you're crazy pig. She's being polite, I'm fairly sure the biggest reason why I feel so nervous about being alone with them is intimidation. Their 2 powerful men, and while I'm a powerful kunoichi, socially I'm standing in a pool with the water over my head."


	5. Stepping up

Sakura was leaning in her chair staring up at a wand of gum on the ceiling she hadn't seen there before. She had opted for her usual shinobi gear today with a white lab coat on, mostly for show. A tea in hand she waited until the tests were over for everyone today so her friends and her could go to the training area.

Neji had caught her and Ino yesterday chatting and had joined them for tea. Inviting her and the blond for a group spar, which mostly entailed a large training area and everyone for themselves, it always promised for great trapping, evasion, survival, and stealth training for everyone. Sometimes even denoting a group which would carry blank scrolls they would have to collect. It always reminded her of the Chunin exams and she hoped Gaara would be open to join them. A fresh face was always welcome as it mixed things up for everyone.

But for now she had to wait until their test was over. It was fairly simple actually, all they had to do was sit down, not talk, and listen. From the recording the day before they would hear the voices of random people say "Greeen Tea and Dango are delicious." And each group would listen to the recording, then rate how sexy the voice was. She had planned to do this yesterday but found she was unable to collect everyone due to many individuals having already made plans.

She got up from her chair and began pacing the halls out of sheer boredom. No paperwork to do, supplies for their training already set, no filing to do, and she couldn't go to the hospital to kill time either. She was locked in time until everyone finished. Needless to say she was relieved when she heard one of the groups entering the hall. The men unsurprisingly, they had been short on female voices.

Naruto came up to her and groaned on how boring the test was and enthused about their training which was due to start soon. Though apparently she was the only one ready to go so early and most people left to get supplies leaving her to issue any other invitations.

So it was unsurprising to both people when she approached Gaara. "Hello Gaara, I see you held up better then Naruto through that." She said pointing to where her blond friend had left.

"As it would seem." He nodded.

"Yeah, I always took you for more of a listener anyways. No offence."

"None taken, your quiet right." He said with another nod.

"So I was wondering would you like to join us for a group spar? We're going to the forest of death for training. It's an everyman for themselves type of training where you try to capture each other's blank scroll. Something of a multi-purpose training exercise." She explained.

Gaara seemed to think this over for a moment "Alright, I presume everyone is invited?"

"Sort of, you need an invite but your welcome to invite Temari and Kankuro. The more the merrier." She smiled, glad to have a fresh face out there. Things had gotten bland recently.

"Alright, where will we all meet?"

"Entrance to the forest, we'll all meet up there. I just have one more person I want to invite." She said with a happy smile. He nodded and headed off without her.

Sakura then sighed and walked over to a quiet Itachi, she didn't doubt he already knew what she wanted to ask. Few Ninja would be able to be honest in saying they didn't casually eavesdrop on conversations, she doubted Itachi was an exception.

"Hello Itachi, how'd it go?" she asked, eavesdropping or not it was only polite to be casual about it, or as casual as you could be with Itatchi.

"Hello Sakura," he nodded in greeting "It went fine."

She wasn't surprised that his response was so short "Good to hear. I was wondering if you'd like to join my friends and I for a group spar?"

"Certainly, the forest of death correct?"

"So you were eavesdropping then."

"No but Sasuke often comes home talking about it."

"Oh! Then my apologies for ensuing such a thing then. But yes Sasuke often joins us, though knowing my team mate he comes home and complains no?" she smiled; she knew enough of Sasuke to know his habits.

Itachi nodded and she was sure she saw a friendly smile tug at his lips "That is correct."

"Knew it," She laughed "He's more predictable then he knows in his habits."

"Agreed. When will you all be meeting?"

She waved her hand "As soon as everyone has their gear together. I'll look at the test results later, training is just as important as this. I'm headed there now," she said patting her pouch "I came prepared."

He nodded "As did I."

"Leave it to you Itachi to always be ready for a fight," she laughed "Well then let's go, might as well walk together right?" she offered and only then realized the nervousness had returned. She had been fine speaking to him moments ago but the idea of walking with him alone got her nervous. Part of her told her it must be a crush but she also reminded herself that was quiet normal to be attracted to the Uchiha and to not take it to heart. Besides that part of her brain was still in teenage girl mode she was sure.

"Alright then. Lead the way miss Sakura." He said standing next to her.

"Itachi you don't need to call me Miss. Just Sakura works fine," she reminded him as they started walking.

"My apologies, old habits die hard I suppose." He said as they started walking. She knew that the girls were just finishing up and her other friends knew where to meet her. Ino would have her by the throat with questions if she knew she was walking with Itachi.

"It's fine but.." the slight blush was back and she inwardly sighed trying to find how to say this without making herself feel more awkward. She reminded herself she shouldn't feel awkward in the least, there was nothing to be awkward about, it was just a conversation about names "…well we've been acquaintances for quite some time now. And..I was hoping we could, as odd as this may sound, take our relationship to friends, you're an interesting person and I don't doubt would be a great friend. I realize how weird that came out and probably seemed quite self centered and technical but putting to word things like this is a bit odd."

"Odd?" he said raising an eyebrow, if he recalled she had been quite open to talk of relationships years before and hadn't thought something like this could become awkward later on.

"Yes, to put it simply most times a friendship just happens and while I'm fine with this completely it felt like our relationship was so formal I had to put my intent into words. It sounds silly now as I probably actually didn't have to but at the time it sounded like a good idea." She said feeling even more awkward.

"Alright then." He nodded after a moment of silence and watching her.

"Great, and sorry about the awkwardness. I shouldn't feel like theirs an exception to you but I cant help it." She said with a sigh then laughed "Ino's permanent teenage girl syndrome must be rubbing off on me."

"Teenage girl syndrome?" he raised an eyebrow again; this was a new one to him.

"Never heard of it? I'm surprised but at the same time I'm not... alright the easiest way to explain it would be to remember what I was like as a Genin. Hmm...wait you might not remember enough…okay better explanation. It refers to a girl who tends to gossip a lot, fangirl over boys, tends to get a lot of crushes, isn't exactly focused on anything except boys, gossip, and appearance and…well that sums it up pretty well. I cold honestly say that once you've had it then it never really goes away." She shrugged.

"I see, I do not know Miss Yamato very well but I will take your word for it in that she has this illness." He shrugged, he knew it wasn't a real illness but it was a funny concept. He inwardly at her when she went on to say it wasn't a real mental illness but more of a concept only to let her go on and listen to her voice quietly. Content on letting her carry away their conversation to whatever she wished, really he just welcomed her company again.


End file.
